Interview: Sam Claflin for LOVE, ROSIE

October 22, 2014

We talk to the star of LOVE, ROSIE and THE HUNGER GAMES…

LOVE, ROSIE is released in Irish cinemas this week. Based on Cecelia Ahern’s novel WHERE RAINBOWS END, the film stars PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN and THE HUNGER GAMES star Sam Claflin as Alex, the love of Rosie’s life, if she will only admit it to herself. Movies.ie caught up with the actor on his recent trip to Dublin to find out more about the film, and what it was like to film in Dublin…

What drew you to LOVE, ROSIE?Sam Claflin: What didn’t draw me to LOVE, ROSIE? Not only was the script really well structured and a relatable story, but the character… I wanted to challenge myself in a way, by playing myself, if that makes sense. Alex had my voice, my hair, my personality… The director’s way of working gave us the freedom to play and improvise at times; I felt very comfortable in doing that. Lily [Collins] was already attached, so that was another draw; I was familiar with her work and a big fan of hers. She’s a lovely, incredible human being. The director was an inspiring, talented young guy who sold it to me – not that he had to! Also, I love a romantic comedy, personally. I love to cry and I love to laugh, so basically it was the perfect job to do.

Did you read WHERE RAINBOWS END – the Cecelia Ahern book that the film is adapted from – or did you deliberately steer clear?SC: I hadn’t read the book prior to getting cast. Before we started filming, I read the book, just purely out of interest and curiosity. There are elements of the character that I thought I needed to draw on, but actually I felt like it would be best to approach it from my point of view, as opposed to from the novel’s point of view. Everyone has a different interpretation of what the character should be, and mine is undoubtedly different to everyone else’s, I’m sure, but it’s a great novel and a great story that we have pushed together to make more intimate.

Dublin stood in for an English town in the movie. What was it like filming here?SC: Amazing. I had never been to Dublin or Ireland before… And this will not be my last time. I have a lot of friends who are here, or who are from here at least, so I had a lot of people telling me places to go, people to see, things to do… The people here are just so incredible; it’s such a welcoming community, and a community feel. Despite being a city, it feels like a town, and it’s beautiful; there’s so much history here. I love the Irish, man [laughs] I love Guinness! I felt at home very quickly.

You and Lily Collins have a lovely sense of shared history in LOVE, ROSIE. Obviously you haven’t known each other for 12 years, so how did you go about creating that?SC: It was strange; when we first met each other it felt like we had known each other our entire lives. An immediate bond, an immediate connection was very apparent. There was a chemistry there. You can’t act chemistry; it’s either there or it isn’t. She became a very good friend, we became very close, we have a lot in common. We obviously had to have that sort of bond anyway, but the director was very cautious about how far to push us and how far to let us play, but he allowed us moments where he would say ‘Sam, make Lily laugh’, and then tell her something else – like ‘Make Sam cry’ or whatever… In the acting world we say NAR, which is ‘No Acting Required’; it was very easy the entire time. Also, we have so many mutual friends and connections from other worlds that it was weird our lives hadn’t collided earlier.